St Kilda superstar Nick Riewoldt has been cleared of any structural damage to his right knee, but says he feared the worst and initially thought he had suffered a potential career-ending injury.

Riewoldt, who kicked four goals before being stretchered off in the final quarter of the Saints’ loss to Melbourne at Docklands Stadium on Saturday, felt the knee pop and thought he had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

“I heard a big pop and there was pain, and I reacted to it,” Riewoldt told Fox Footy on Sunday morning.

“I thought [the ACL] was what I’d done. The docs are pretty happy the testing they’ve done shows it’s not an ACL, but there’s clearly something in there.

“It’s stiff and sore now … I gave it a pretty good wrench.

“But it looks like I’ve dodged a bullet.”

Depending on the results of the scans, it is still likely Riewoldt will miss up to a month of footy, though that is a much better prospect than a ruptured cruciate ligament.